But when it comes to true showmen, Kingsbury thinks his opponent has the market cornered.

Kingsbury (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Fabio Maldonado (18-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meet at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Their bout is one of five slated to air on Spike TV.

And after watching all the tape he could find on his opponent, Kingsbury told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmjaunkie.com/radio) he expects fans to be entertained.

“The first time I watched [Maldonado’s footage], I thought, ‘Oh man, this good is cocky,'” said Kingsbury, a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter 8.” “But the more and more I watched his fights, I realized, ‘This guy is a showman. And he’s a very talented guy.'”

Kingsbury, a former collegiate football player, took quickly to striking, and he’s since complemented those skills with a solid ground game. Kingsbury, though, knows his opponent is exceptionally good in the standup department and could test him like few opponents have.

“He’ll make you think you’re kicking his ass, and you’re really not landing that much damage or taking much off him because he’s able to take just a little off each punch with his head movement, the way he rolls his chin, and how he kind of evades a punch,” said Kingsbury, who’s been training with American Kickboxing Academy. “I think of him as a showman. I respect that. I like the fact that he does that. It excites the crowd. It draws people into the fight. It’s good for the sport and makes the fight more exciting.”

But though he has plenty of praise for Maldonado, who owns an 11-fight win streak (which included a recent TKO of James McSweeney at UFC 120), Kingsbury isn’t conceding the fight. Far from it.

In fact, he so thoroughly enjoyed his recent win over Romero that he’d like another quick knockout.

“I never expected the fight to go that way,” he said of the February bout. “Ricardo is a really tough dude. … Going into that fight, I expected it to go three rounds with him. When you go in there and get a victory that fast, that’s a good thing, a great thing.”

And most importantly – and why he’s happy to fight Maldonado – it sent fans home happy.

“You want to get an exciting win,” he said. “You never expect it. You finish it, you take a deep breath, and you say, ‘Wow, that happened? That’s pretty cool.’

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by Gorgeous George, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Goze. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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